Using coffee machines generally requires several operations by a user, among which the filling of an extraction chamber with ground coffee, the closing of the chamber in a position so that it is ready to receive hot water injection, then, when brewing is completed, the emptying of the used ground coffee.
The marketing of ground coffee-containing packagings substantially improved such operations by limiting or even eliminating any contact between the ground coffee and the coffee machine. The phases of filling and emptying the extraction chamber are more particularly facilitated.
In some cases, coffee is packaged in tight pods, so that coffee is brewed inside the pod, and the machine now simply has a receptacle for the pod, a system for injecting hot water through one face of the pod, and a duct for dispensing beverage, through another, opposite, face of the pod.
Despite such improvements, the phases of opening and closing the extraction chamber are still complex. To remedy this problem, document WO-A1-2007/137937 provides for a device, wherein the brewing chamber(s) is/are formed in two mutually movable portions. An upper stationary portion covers the brewing chamber and can be added onto a coffee machine. Another lower portion moves along a kinematic characteristic to open the brewing chamber, lower the second portion and then cause the tilting of the second portion towards the front of the machine. The filling and the emptying of the brewing chamber are facilitated from the front face of the machine when such technique is used.
A need exists however for a further improvement of the operation phases of such a device to make the filling and the emptying of the extraction chamber more practical.